Escape From Robotropolis
by Hamato Kameko
Summary: AU based on SatAM, OC - When you grow up in a polluted city, mistreated by your own father and his boss, the self proclaimed ruler of the planet, you can't help but long for what you've never known: freedom.
1. A Secret Revealed

**Disclaimer: **Sonic The Hedgehog and all related characters are titles are trademarks of Sonic Team/SEGA and are used without permission for entertainment purposes only. ' Escape from Robotropolis' is © 2003-2011 Hamato Kameko. Rane the Hedgehog, Eli the Hedgehog, and Mora the Hedgehog are © 2003-2011 Hamato Kameko.

**Rating:** PG-13 for child abuse and violence.

* * *

**Escape From Robotropolis**  
**Chapter I: A Secret Revealed**

Rane groaned and pulled the blanket over her head as the bright fluorescent lights in her tiny bedroom suddenly came on.

"Go away..." Her muscles still ached from the day before—she'd broken her own speed record—and she was not at all ready to wake up.

"Rane!" Her father's voice barked from the intercom. "Get out here! Dr. Robotnik wants to see you!"

The fourteen-year-old frowned at her clock and struggled to make out the numbers. She finally just guessed, going by the general shape of the blurs.

"It's 2:32 in the morning!" She whined to the brushed steel walls. They stared back at her, unresponsive.

"RANE!" The older hedgehog's voice reverberated through the small room.

'_He__'__ll__ be __in__ here __in __a __moment__,'_ she sighed to herself. Hauling herself upright, the emerald-green hedgehog pulled her gloves from the glorified steel box that served as a nightstand.

She heard a click behind her, then a whirring sound as the door leading into the hallway receded into the wall. She didn't even wait for the noise to begin before flattening her ears against her head. Her quills pricked up in annoyance at the barrage of shouting—it was not doubt the first of many she'd receive today.

"What the hell is wrong with you? I called you _two __times__! _You're keeping the doctor waiting! Do you have any idea how this makes me look? You're useless! Absolutely _useless__!_"

She tuned out as he launched into one of his lectures. She knew every one of them by heart anyway.

Pushing herself off the bed and onto her feet, she retrieved her sneakers from a corner and stumbled back to the nightstand, pulling open the bottom drawer. Pulling out a clean pair of socks, she dropped heavily back onto the bed and finished dressing.

'_What does porky want from me, anyway? I'm sure as heck not going out there naked!'_

Of course, 'naked' was a relative term. Rane's 'clothes' consisted only of white gloves, white socks, and her beloved white sneakers with the light green laces. But it was the principle of the thing.

Finally, she stood and faced her father. He was short, even for a hedgehog, and overweight to the point that it was almost comical. Eli the Hedgehog often made her think of the old adage about pets resembling their masters. He certainly resembled his. Except that her father wore glasses and lacked the stupid mustache.

She clearly got her looks from her mother. Though heaven knew where the green fur had come from—Eli was brown and going gray at the quills, and Mora had been a lovely shade of lavender. _Is_, Rane corrected herself.

With a frown at the still-tirading hedgehog, Rane started towards the door. Eli followed her, never missing a beat of his lecture.

The young hedgehog shivered as a blast of cold air from the city's massive air conditioning network hit her. Her fur and quills were still somewhat damp from last night's shower, and the cold quickly absorbed down to her skin. She knew that with all the electronics and mechanics in Robotropolis, air-conditioning was essential, but she was certain that this was overkill.

"Are you listening to me, girl?" Eli's voice broke through her thoughts, and she answered automatically.

"Yes, Eli..." She'd stopped calling him Daddy a long time ago. About the time she'd gotten old enough to understand what he really was: a spy for the most hated being on Mobius, and a person who'd sooner sell his own daughter to the devil than have harm come to his own quills. He was so rotten and so crooked that Robotnik had shunted his own nephew aside in favor of the hedgehog—blood ties clearly meant nothing to Robotnik.

No, she corrected herself, that wasn't true. Blood ties meant _something_ to Robotnik_._ Blood ties were just about the only thing keeping Snively and herself from being robotocized.

Rane walked, still more asleep than awake, toward the command center. To most anyone else, these halls would be a veritable labyrinth, but not to Rane. Having lived here as long as she could remember, she knew every twist and turn by heart. The hallways were blessedly dim, and far easier on her eyes than the bright lights of her bedroom. Several times she closed her eyes completely as she walked, wanting nothing more than to just go back to bed.

When they finally reached the entrance to the command center, Rane forced herself to open her eyes. She shook herself, both mentally and physically, in an effort to wake up, and braced herself for whatever Robotnik had in store. There was really no telling with that man...

Eli pressed the button beside the door, which slid upwards into the wall above them. Following him into the cavernous room, Rane couldn't help but wonder what that fat tub-of-lard of a human could want at this unholy hour.

Dr. Ivo Robotnik slowly turned to face the two hedgehogs. As much as he detested hedgehogs—indeed, he hated all the citizens of Mobius, regardless of species—he had to admire the older hedgehog's cunning. Eli had proven to be most useful in his quest for total control of the planet. Eli's daughter, on the other hand...

He really couldn't stand the brat. He'd given her a home, provided her food and clothing (such as it was); he'd even allowed her to use _his_ computers for her studies. And how did she repay him? By insulting him. By making him look stupid. Oh, she never did it directly. She didn't dare. But she still managed it, somehow.

He really hated her.

And now he knew she'd been lying to him. For months. Possibly years.

He was _not_ happy.

And yet... and yet it might still be turned to his advantage...

Robotnik was making Rane nervous, but then, he always made her nervous. She spotted Snively off to her left; he looked anxious as ever. She had a strange feeling he was trying to tell her something, without drawing attention to himself, but she couldn't for the life of her figure out what.

She cleared her throat to break the awkward silence that had filled the room since they'd entered.

"You... wanted to see me?"

For a moment, the human remained silent, his red-on-black eyes regarding her calmly.

It was the calm that worried her. Like the calm that comes before the storm. This was not a good sign. Not at all. She spared another furtive glance at Snively. Their gazes locked for a moment, and Rane's blood ran cold. Something was very wrong.

"...Sir?"

Robotnik smiled slightly and turned to the main monitor. "I have something to show you, Rane. Something that I think you'll find most interesting."

Attempting to look nonplussed, Rane raised an eyebrow. What could possibly be so interesting that he felt the need to get her out of bed in the middle of the night? And since when did he care to tell her about anything? The man loved to gloat—at every opportunity—but he'd never made an occasion of it. At least not to where it concerned her. What was the big deal? What in _hell_was going on?

Eli the Hedgehog looked on in amusement. He stood just behind his daughter, and although he rather wished that he could see her face when Robotnik revealed his 'surprise', he stayed where he was. Shooting Snively a smirk, he slipped the hypodermic out of the compartment it had been hidden in and pulled off the protective cap that covered the needle. His lips curled at the irony as he silently tapped the syringe, watching the trapped bubbles rise to the top.

He could always watch it on the surveillance video later.

Dr. Robotnik tapped a few commands into one of a dozen keypads, then pressed the button that activated the huge screen.

"You see," he continued, "I've been installing cameras in some of the sectors that were previously unequipped. Sectors that I've decided don't hold information sensitive enough to exclude from the surveillance grid."

Rane nodded slowly. Many sectors in the city were deliberate dead-zones, so that anyone hacking into the system wouldn't find—or destroy—various projects the man was working on.

But she rarely visited those sectors. They were and had always been off limits to her. On the few occasions that she had stumbled across one, she had been rudely escorted out by swatbots. So what exactly did this have to do with her? Unless... No, surely not...

Robotnik glanced briefly over his shoulder at the girl. She didn't appear to have figured it out yet. Good. All the more fun when she saw the video.

"While I was at it," he drawled, "I installed cameras in other parts of the city. I hadn't realized quite _how_ many dead areas there were." He pressed one last button and turned around.

All the blood drained from Rane's face as she stared, transfixed, at the giant display.

On the massive screen, Rane could see herself. Running. Jumping. Punching and kicking at various bits of refuse with a startling fervor, if a clear lack of training.

Occasionally a camera would lose her. After a few brief moments, another camera would pick her up—almost impossibly far from the last shot.

None of the images should have been recorded.

None of the cameras should have been there.

But they were.

And now Robotnik knew her secret.

She shook her head, disbelieving. The one thing that was hers, and hers alone, now they knew...

The dictator merely smiled in that incredibly creepy way he had. He had everything under control. "I don't like being lied to, Rane." She heard Snively whimper as Robotnik glanced past her with a nod.

She had forgotten that her father was standing behind her. Before she could work out what was happening, she felt a sharp pain in her neck.

_Oh __my__ God__, __they__'__re__ going __to __roboticize __me__! __But __why __the__—_

But she never managed to complete her question.

Robotnik watched in satisfaction as the teenager crumpled to the floor. He gestured to the pair of swat-bots that waited patiently by the door, then turned back to the monitor.

"Prep her for surgery."


	2. New and Improved

**Disclaimer:**Sonic The Hedgehog and all related characters are titles are trademarks of Sonic Team/SEGA and are used without permission for entertainment purposes only. ' Escape from Robotropolis' is © 2003-2011 Hamato Kameko. Rane the Hedgehog, Eli the Hedgehog, and Mora the Hedgehog are © 2003-2011 Hamato Kameko.

**Rating:** PG-13 for child abuse and violence.

* * *

**Escape**** From ****Robotropolis**  
**Chapter ****II:**** New ****And ****Improved**

Rane awakened slowly as the anesthesia wore off... And then her eyes snapped open as her last few memories before losing consciousness flooded back.

Robotnik's strange calm.

The new cameras.

The surveillance video.

The sharp pain in her neck.

She had been certain that she was going to die, right then and there. Or worse, she'd wake up to find her mind trapped in the body of a robot, with no control over her own actions. Now she realized she'd merely been injected with a sedative. Exactly _why_ was still a mystery. One that she wasn't sure she wanted to solve.

There was a pain in her chest, and it was gradually becoming worse as the drugs wore off. And there was an itching as well. She wasn't sure which was worse.

She wasn't sure of much of anything at the moment. Except that she was in the main medical center, and judging by the machines and trays of wicked looking medical instruments, she was in the surgical bay.

That fact didn't make her feel any better.

Rane lifted her head up from the table and looked down at her chest. A clean white bandage was wrapped around her upper torso, holding a piece of gauze in place over her chest, just to the right of her breastbone. Her eyes widened in horror.

She jolted when the door behind her clicked and slid open, and she quickly discovered that she'd been restrained. Twisting her head around as much as she could, she greeted Robotnik with a deadly glare.

The fat man smirked down at her. "If only looks could kill, hmm, hedgehog? I see you've discovered my little 'upgrade.' "

"What the hell have you done to me?" Her vicious snarl was betrayed by the fear in her eyes.

"It's an insurance policy." He walked around the table, his hands clasped behind his back. Rane turned her head, following him with her eyes.

"You see, when I discovered your... _hidden __talents_, I realized that you might be useful to me after all. I had begun to think that I'd wasted my time by keeping you around."  
The emerald hedgehog narrowed her eyes. "That still doesn't explain why you cut me open."

"_I__'__m__ getting__ to __that__!_" he snapped, causing Rane to pull back so abruptly that her head smacked against the metal table. She blinked away stars as the human resumed his elucidation. "Despite the value of your talents, I suspected that you wouldn't follow my orders _willingly_. As you've grown older, you've become increasingly difficult to handle. I _had_ thought that the loss of your mother had broken you..."

Rane flinched, then mentally kicked herself for doing so.

"...But clearly, I was mistaken. No matter. You _will_ follow my orders, whether you like it or not. Or you will _perish_. That's where my _improvement_ comes in."

The teenager's eyes widened.

Robotnik came to a halt at Rane's right, and picked up something small from one of the trays. "Remarkable, isn't it? Scarcely an inch wide, yet it packs enough power to kill virtually anyone, of any species." He held the extra implant up so she could see it. It looked like a simple silver coin, except that in the center of each side, there was a small, slightly raised, copper square.

"This is much like a battery. In the event that you refuse to do as you're told, I need _only_ to press a single button. The implant will activate, and the 'battery' will deliver a high-voltage _shock_ to your system." He stopped for a moment, watching her expression carefully.

Despite her best efforts, Rane knew that her intended look of angry defiance was gradually giving way to one of panic. After what felt like an eternity, the scientist continued, the smirk morphing into nothing short of a sneer.

"And don't think that it will be a quick death, either. It will be very slow, and _very_ excruciating." His metal hand curled into a fist around the implant he held. "Such is the _punishment_ for disobeying me." He fell silent for a moment, and then appeared to remember something. "Oh, and Rane..." He walked towards the door, lingering beside a control panel and raising his hand to it, as if to release the metal restraints that held the girl to the table. After a moment's contemplation, the human lowered his arm, having apparently changed his mind. "_Don__'__t_ try to remove the implant. It's programmed to activate if you do."

She wondered how the implant could possibly know if she was removing it, but dismissed the question, at least for the time being. She couldn't imagine cutting open her own chest, and shuddered at the violent image that brought to mind.

Craning her neck, Rane faced the door as it opened for Robotnik. "You know, I'm no match for Sonic, if that's what you're thinking. Nowhere _near_."

The human turned to face her one last time, grinning. "Practice makes _perfect_, hedgehog_. __Practice __makes __perfect_."

The door slid shut behind him, and Rane was left alone to consider his last words.


	3. Of Friends, Foes, and the Future

**Disclaimer:**Sonic The Hedgehog and all related characters are titles are trademarks of Sonic Team/SEGA and are used without permission for entertainment purposes only. ' Escape from Robotropolis' is © 2003-2011 Hamato Kameko. Rane the Hedgehog, Eli the Hedgehog, and Mora the Hedgehog are © 2003-2011 Hamato Kameko.

**Rating:** PG-13 for child abuse and violence.

* * *

**Escape**** From ****Robotropolis**  
**Chapter**** III:**** Of ****Friends****, ****Foes****, ****and**** the**** Future**

It had been at least half an hour since Robotnik had left the room, and Rane was still trapped on the cold, hard operating table. At long last, she heard the door slide open, and again she craned her neck to 'greet' whoever it was. Only she couldn't see anyone. She turned her head back and grumbled at the ceiling.

"Stupid doors. Probably malfunctioning again or something."

Then she heard an indignant, high-pitched voice speak up. "It's _me_, hedgehog." This time, she turned her head so quickly she felt a muscle pull, and sparks swam in front of her eyes for a moment. She squeezed her eyes shut until the sparklers faded, then opened them just in time to see a clearly human hand accessing the panel by the door. Straining just a bit more, she managed to see the top of the Snively's bald head.

"Oh, Squeaky, it's just you. I thought fat-ass was back."

"_Must_ you call me that?"

She sat up as the restraints withdrew into the table, and started rubbing her wrists, trying to restore some circulation to her hands. "Oh, come on, I've been calling you that for _years_. It's _ever_ so adorable, you know. And you can _hardly_ claim that it doesn't fit."

Snively shot her an exasperated look. "Very funny, _pincushion__._ You're welcome."

She jumped off the table, only to cling to the edge of it as a sharp pain shot through her chest. The room seemed to shift around her. "_Ow_... Thanks... So you couldn't have given me a sooner warning about this?"

Snively shook his head. "I didn't have a chance. The 'good doctor' sent for you as soon as he saw the video." Rane looked at him—he seemed truly sorry. She sighed.

"It's all right. Not as if it's your fault. I should have been more careful." She turned to face the reflective side of a piece of equipment, examining the bandage on her chest. "So that's it then. I'm _completely_ screwed. I haven't got a chance in hell now."

"Giving up on running away, hmm?"

She didn't turn around. "Well, I doubt I'd get very far with this—this _thing_ in my chest."

"You're clever. You'll find a way."

"Yeah? Like wh— _SONUVVABITCH__!"_ She jumped in shock and whirled to face him. Her spines and fur stood on end. "What the _HELL_ was _THAT__!_"

The diminutive human held up a now empty hypodermic, unimpressed by the threatening snarl on the teenager's face. "Pain killer. I imagine that's rather tender." He gestured to the bandage.

She scowled, rubbing her arm where he'd injected her. "And _what_, you couldn't have _warned_ me?"

"I know how much you _hate_ needles. You'd have never stayed still long enough if I'd _warned_ you."

He had a point. Rane never had much liked needles. She gave him a dirty look and turned back toward her reflection. The pain in her chest was already starting to subside. She sighed again. "Thanks. This had better not leave a noticeable scar... Damn it, I'm going to _kill_ him for this!"

Snively smirked. "Good, you'll save me the trouble."

"Still planning to overthrow him, then?" It was a rhetorical question, really; they'd had this conversation many, many times before.

"Why, of course. _I__'__d_ be a better ruler any day." Rane snorted; Snively ignored her. "I don't suppose I can still convince you to stay here and help me? You'd be my second-in-command, you know."

She answered his question with one of her own. "I don't suppose I can still convince you to come with me when I make a break for it?"

It was the human's turn to sigh. "I guess that answers _both_ our questions."

Rane turned back to face him, half-frowning. "I guess it does." As much as she hated to admit it, she was going to miss the human. They had entirely different plans for the future—she planned to help liberate Mobius, and he planned to rule over it as dictator—but the two of them had always, more-or-less, gotten along. They were each the only person the other had to talk to, really, and their mutual detest for Robotnik—and Eli, for that matter—had actually turned them into something resembling friends, even if neither would ever acknowledge it. There was an unspoken understanding between them that they would one day likely be fighting _against_ each other, though both preferred not to think about such a time. Reminiscent of the saying, 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend,' the two were allies against a greater evil.

Rane started towards the door. "You eat yet, Squeaky?"

He hardly reacted to the nickname this time; he had, after all, heard it for years. "No, I was planning to have a late lunch after I came here."

"Then let's go get something. I'm starved."

She was really beginning to hate this stupid machine.

It was the feel of the wind whipping through her quills, the exhilaration of seeing things flash past. Those were the things that really fueled her love of running. She loved how it made her feel.

Unfortunately, the treadmill provided none of the fun of her usual runs. Just the exhaustion.

It just wasn't worth the effort.

On the plus side, she did at least get to watch blubber-butt's face turn red when she didn't run fast enough to make him happy. That was always entertaining. Or at least, it was entertaining as long as he didn't decide to take his anger out on _her_.

Been there, done that. Had the scars to prove it.

The treadmill decelerated, taking her through the cool down stage, and finally came to a halt. Rane stepped off it, taking the towel offered by one of the robots that manned the training room. "Thanks," she muttered distractedly. The robot—another hedgehog, interestingly enough—replied with a mechanical "You're welcome" before clanking over to the treadmill, checking it over for any signs of damage.

A few days into Robotnik's forced 'training', she had become so angry that she had—while the man was momentarily distracted—started jabbing at random buttons as hard as she could. The machine had short-circuited, and even burst into flame, much to Rane's delight. Unfortunately, that delight was short-lived. It didn't take Robotnik long to deduce that the machine's 'spontaneous' combustion was actually her fault.

She'd spent the next four days in the infirmary.

In the meantime, Robotnik had had the treadmill rebuilt from the ground up—with all the controls on a panel _separate_ from the machine itself—and despite several attempts on Rane's part, this one had lasted nearly four months. If she really made an effort, she could probably destroy this one as well, but she hadn't tried much. Aside from the trouble she'd find herself in if she did, she was too preoccupied with trying to come up with a plan for escape.

Rane sat sideways on a nearby chair as a second robot approached her. She wearily rested her head on an armrest, closing her eyes resignedly as the robot inserted a hypodermic into her arm. She gripped the chair as the chemicals burned into her veins.

_'__Just__ don__'__t __get __sick__, __just __don__'__t__ get __sick__, _please _don__'__t__ let __me __get __sick__...'_

The chemicals—a combination that was apparently supposed to improve her strength and stamina (and indeed they had, for she was nearly twice as fast as before)—had the unfortunate side effect of making her lose the contents of her stomach every other time they entered her body. Her throat was constantly raw as a result. After nearly ten minutes, during which time she slid off the chair and curled up on the floor, the pain and nausea finally subsided, and she pulled herself back to her feet. The medi-bot (who was originally a fox, as far as Rane could tell) was still holding a basin out for her use; she pushed it back at him firmly. "Not today, EmSev, thanks anyway. I don't need it today, thank heaven..."

She often spoke to the robotocized individuals this way. She was certain that, somewhere beneath all that metal and programming and mind control, the real people were still there, and could still hear her, even if they couldn't respond. She hoped she could offer some hope and comfort to those who were trapped inside those awful mechanical bodies.

The others, Snively included, told her she was wasting her time. She refused to believe them.

She couldn't believe them, because she couldn't believe that her mother was truly gone.

Thinking of her mother brought up the thought of her father. She hadn't seen him in a good two weeks; she wondered, not for the first time, if she'd ever see him again. Not that she'd be particularly heart-broken if she didn't.

She sighed and turned her thoughts back to her plans for the next twenty-four hours.

At first she'd been so stunned by the knowledge that her body had been violated by Robotnik's foul implant that she'd gone along with her new training arrangement without much of a fight. After a few days—and the temper tantrum that had killed the first treadmill—the shock had worn off, and the wheels in her head had started to turn.

The implant had certainly put a kink in her plans for eventual escape. What good would it be to escape, only to be dead before she could enjoy it?

Then something Robotnik said came back to her: "And don't think that it will be a quick death, either. It will be very slow, and _very_ excruciating."

_Very __slow__._

This got the hedgehog thinking. What if she could get the thing out before it killed her? Unfortunately, this brought back the issue of having to cut open her own chest.

Rane returned to her own room and undressed. Stepping into the shower, she turned the water up as hot as she could stand and leaned her head against the wall, letting the water wash away some of her frustration.

About a week ago, she had hacked into her medical file without Robotnik's knowledge. It would be days before he'd figure out she'd seen it - and she planned to be long gone by then. The information she'd gathered from it was helpful, if a bit disturbing.

She scratched at the scar absently. The three by four inch patch where her fur had been shaved had finally grown back in, which was a relief. The bald spot had been embarrassing and had come worryingly close to revealing that which she didn't want revealed in mixed company.

The incision had of course required stitches; when she made the cut, she would have no way to sew herself back up. But she could live with the scar. It was the certain loss of blood that concerned her.

And to make matters worse, she'd have barely sixty seconds from the time the thing activated to the time that she could no longer function to get it out of her. It was a larger window of opportunity than she had expected—leave it to Robotnik to leave a loophole—but it still wasn't much. By the end of the sixty seconds, she'd be in too much pain, and have too little control over her assaulted muscles to be able to do anything, let alone self-performed surgery.

She almost wished that she hadn't accessed her file after all. After all, they say ignorance is bliss, right?

But the sixty-second time frame had given her a little more hope. She had a chance, even if it was a small one. Though even if she did manage to get the device out, she'd still probably die from shock and blood loss.

It wasn't a good outlook, but it was worth the attempt. If there was even the smallest possibility of surviving the ordeal, she had to try.

By tomorrow night, the hedgehog decided, she'd either be recovering and preparing to start a new life, or she'd be dead.

Either way, at least she'd be free.


	4. The Escape

**Disclaimer:**Sonic The Hedgehog and all related characters are titles are trademarks of Sonic Team/SEGA and are used without permission for entertainment purposes only. ' Escape from Robotropolis' is © 2003-2011 Hamato Kameko. Rane the Hedgehog, Eli the Hedgehog, and Mora the Hedgehog are © 2003-2011 Hamato Kameko.

**Rating:** PG-13 for child abuse and violence.

* * *

**Escape ****From**** Robotropolis**  
**Chapter ****IV:**** The ****Escape**

It was a quarter to midnight. Two of the three organic citizens of the city slept soundly. The third crept through the shadows, silently avoiding cameras and robots as she made her way to the outskirts of the massive city.

Getting out of the building that housed the living quarters undetected had been quite a trick, but by some miracle, she had pulled it off. Now, crouching in a dark corner as a guardbot went by, Rane's heart hammered in her chest. She was so close to freedom she could all but taste it, but one wrong move and she'd be dead.

Part of her desperately wanted to just run for it, but she knew that that would get her detected, and her slim chance would quickly become no chance. Taking a steadying breath, she bolted for the next shadow, vanishing from sight just as a camera turned her way.

The hedgehog smiled to herself. The camera hadn't been fast enough. That bloody "speed serum" was turning out to have been useful after all. She still didn't come close to rivaling the famous Blue Blur, but she was definitely much faster than she had been, and it was enough for her. She turned her attention back to where she was headed. Less than a mile and she'd be outside of the city.

She'd finally get to see what Mobius was like outside of Robotropolis. She couldn't remember her life before Robotnik, and she'd never left the city. All she really knew of the outside world came to her from pictures and her mother's stories. She'd never seen a real tree, or flower, or blade of grass. She'd finally be able to feel the roughness of tree bark, smell the sweet aroma of a flower. She'd been waiting for this her whole life. She eagerly took a step, starting for the next clump of shadows.

Only to jump back at the sound of voices.

_"__C__'__mon__, __Knux__! __I__ coulda __been __in __and __outta __there __already__!"_

_ "Yeah, with every bot in the city on your tail."_

_ "Please, I can handle them, no sweat!"_

_ "Uh-huh. And were you planning to pull all three of us out of the city? Or are you just going to leave us behind to fend for ourselves against robots you attracted?"_

_ "Both of you shut up! You're going to attract attention."_

The first two voices were masculine, the third clearly female. It sounded as if there was a fourth person who was simply being quiet.

'Freedom Fighters,' Rane realized.

Judging by the impatience and egotism in the first voice, one of them was Sonic himself.

The second voice was calmer, more collected. 'The echidna?' she wondered. 'That Knuckles character?' She figured it was a pretty good bet. But the third voice...

_"__So__, __where __to __now__, __Sal__?"_

Of course. Princess Sally Acorn. That made sense. She started to wonder what they were up to, then cursed. If they raised an alarm, Robotnik would almost certainly find out Rane was missing, and would activate the implant. It would be too soon; she needed more time. She considered confronting the group, but decided against it. They'd most likely assume she was an enemy. Rane willed them not to get caught - they might be able to escape easily enough, but it would be game over for her.

With a final silent plea for them to be careful, she returned to her own mission. It wasn't long before she found herself standing at the city limits, looking out over the moonlit landscape beyond. Most likely due to the chemical smoke and resulting acid rain, the land for some distance was a barren, rocky wasteland. With luck, she'd be far beyond it by morning.

Rane stepped out of the city and took off, resolving to put as much distance as possible between herself and Robotropolis.

She was free. For however long it lasted, she was, at long last, free. And no one was going to take that from her.

Lowering her head in determination, she poured on the speed, and never looked back.

She'd been running for only a few minutes when she felt it. A sharp pain in the middle of her chest, radiating outwards through her entire body. Her breath caught, and she stumbled, tumbling and sliding along the rocky ground for over a hundred feet before finally stopping, the unforgiving rocks tearing at her body. Another pain shot through her, and she sat up, panicked.

'No, not now, not yet! It's too soon! I'm not ready!' Kneeling on the rocky ground, she ripped the bag off her back and dug through it, frantically yanking out the scalpel she'd lifted from the medical center.

Another shock raced through her body. It was now or never.

Clenching her teeth against the fourth shock, she braced herself and brought the knife up to her chest. "OhGodOhGodOhGod..."

She closed her eyes, pressed the scalpel against the original scar, and dragged it across her chest. She heard a horrendous scream, and belatedly realized it was her own. She repeated the move, pressing harder, cutting deeper. She tasted blood in her mouth - she'd bit into her lip in response to the pain.

The shocks were becoming more frequent, more powerful. Blood ran down her chest, soaked into her gloves, ran down her arms. Her hands had begun to shake, and the third cut was ragged, the sharp blade tearing through flesh as easily as it would butter.

She still had not found the implant. She could feel it; the pain was unbearable. 'Where the hell is it?' The hedgehog was terrified that the knife would slip, and she would pierce her heart, or her lungs. She struggled against the growing numbness in her fingers and, her hands now shaking violently, sliced a fourth time.

This time the blade hit metal.

The world spun around her, the edges of her vision were growing dark. She was kneeling in a puddle of her own blood, but she didn't notice. Her arms and legs were almost entirely numb; she could barely hold onto the scalpel as she used it to lever the implant out of her body. She swayed, dangerously close to passing out, and struggled to remove the device that was so determined to kill her.

The implant finally clattered to the ground.

A second later, Rane joined it.

Sonic all but sauntered in front of the others. Robots, Shmobots. It hadn't even been a challenge. He grinned up at the full moon and called to the others.

"C'mon, you guys! We're home free!"

Sally glared at him.

Knuckles glared at him.

Tails was stuck between glaring at him and beaming with pride. It made for an interesting expression.

Sonic turned to face them, walking backwards. "Aw, c'mon guys! We got what we came for and nobody got hurt!"

Sally didn't bother to mention the growing bruise on her left leg. Knuckles glanced pointedly at the cut on Tails' cheek.

Sonic sighed. "Alright, nobody got _seriously _hurt! It coulda been worse!" He stopped as his shoe made a tiny 'splat' sound. There was no water out here, so what... Then he caught sight of the others' expressions. Sally had paled considerably. Tails appeared to fighting off a bout of nausea. Knuckles simply looked horrified.

And Sonic smelled the unmistakable stench of blood. He looked down slowly, already knowing what he was going to see. He was standing in blood. A lot of it. He turned around, and his eyes widened at what his saw.

A female hedgehog, partially curled into a protective ball, lay on the ground, her fur soaked with blood. A scalpel lay near one of her hands. He was sure she was dead. Sally suddenly appeared in his field of vision, and knelt next to the girl, heedless of the blood. Reaching out and taking one of the hedgehog's wrists in her hand, she felt for a pulse. The girl was deathly cold, her pulse only just there, but she was alive. Sally pulled off her backpack and started to rummage through it, quickly locating and removing a roll of gauze. "Sonic, help me out here."

Sonic joined her by the other hedgehog, gently rolling the unconscious form onto her back. Her chest was cut open, and cut deep. He couldn't understand how she was still alive. Taking the piece of gauze Sally handed him, he pressed it against the wound. He wondered if there was really any chance of saving the girl. He doubted it, but he knew Sally wouldn't just leave her there to die alone. He knew he wouldn't either.

The other two stood out of the way, watching. The ten-year-old held the expression of a child who'd already seen far too much in his short life. Not needing to be asked, he switched on his flashlight so Sally could better see what she was doing.

Knuckles stepped forward with a frown, noting the blood-covered knife on the ground near the girl. "Are you sure she _wants_ to be saved?"

Sally didn't look up. "I don't think she was trying to kill herself," she stated, handing another piece of gauze to Sonic and preparing to use the final, longer piece to wrap around the emerald hedgehog's chest. "Think about it. If you were trying to kill yourself, would you cut _across_ your chest, or plunge the knife straight in?"

Knuckles raised an eye brow. The princess had a point. "Then why...?

"I wish I knew. Here, help me sit her up so I can finish."

The echidna did as he was told; gently maneuvering the wounded girl into a sitting position so Sally could wrap the remaining bandage around her torso. As he did, the moonlight glinted off of something that had been hidden underneath her. Holding her up with one arm, he reached out with his other hand to retrieve the mysterious object.

"I think I may have just solved the mystery," he stated. Sonic looked at him questioningly. Knuckles held the bloody coin-sized discovery up, and Tails angled the flashlight up slightly to illuminate it.

Sonic frowned. "What the hell...?"

Sally tied off the end of the bandage. "Finished."

No longer having to hold the gauze against the still-bleeding wound, he took the object from Knuckles. He turned it over, frowned again, and handed it back. "Better hang onto it for now, Knux."

The Guardian nodded and rose to his feet as Sonic took the girl in his arms. She was fairly light, a fact he attributed at least partly to the loss of blood. "Somebody grab her bag. We better make tracks."

Sally returned her own bag to her shoulders, and Knuckles picked up the abandoned backpack. They picked up the pace, Sonic running on ahead, Tails just behind him, following by air. Sonic cradled his charge carefully in his arms and willed her to survive until they reached Knothole. She was hardly breathing.

"Just hang on, ok? You've survived this long. Don't give up now..."


End file.
